Location                      

Fitchburg Room on second floor Fitchburg Public Library
5530 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, WI 53711

Contact

Phone: (608) 729-1783
Email: woodedarchives@gmail.com
Fitchburg Room: during library hours
Private collection: Call or email to make an appointment

Mission Statement

The goals of the Fitchburg Historical Society are to preserve, advance and disseminate knowledge of the history of the City of Fitchburg, Wisconsin and its environs.

History

On September 17, 1986 Fitchburg residents Anna Fox, Phil Fox, Ellen Green, Carole Kinney, Jean O’Brien, Mickie Schmudlach, and Mayor Jeannie Sieling met at the Fitchburg City Hall to discuss the creation of a Fitchburg historical society.  Five months later on February 15, 1987 the Fitchburg Historical Society was created with 80 charter members. The society is a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization and is a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society. The Fitchburg community and people from outside the community have contributed articles that reflect the history of the city and its people. The articles include various documents, stories, newspaper accounts, obituaries, photographic images and recordings. The Fitchburg Historical Society continues to research and celebrate the rich heritage of this community with many dedicated volunteers. A newsletter is published quarterly to announce upcoming events and highlight historical stories.

Resources

The Fitchburg Room contains many books, newspaper collections, plat maps and artifacts on the Fitchburg area and Wisconsin that can be viewed during library hours. In addition, the East wall of the room contains a large mural of the old Fitchburg village center. To view the Society’s private collection or to ask for assistance in finding a specific person or historic site please contact us by phone or email to make an appointment.

Display Case

A display case outside of the Fitchburg Room on the southeast corner of the second floor shows a variety of historical items that are regularly changed to highlight Fitchburg events and people.

Collection Consultant Elizabeth Leith.

We have been fortunate to have the volunteer services of Elizabeth Leith, Senior Academic Curator in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison as our collection consultant since 2017.  With extensive experience in maintaining large historical collections and developing digital databases, she has been very helpful in identifying ways to improve the management of our collection, aided in the development of our digital FHS Database and gave constructive help in our successful efforts to obtain a grant-in-aid from the Wisconsin Historical Foundation, Inc., administered by the Wisconsin Council for Local History, Inc.in 2017.  Her credentials are available by clicking on the URL link here.

Board members (click on name for bio)

Eric Amlie
Mike Croft
Nancy Dorman
Tom Hovel
Eileen Kellor (Secretary)
Carole Kinney
Shawn Pfaff
Dianne Reynolds
Catherine Schneider (Vice President)
Allan Tereba (President)
Roger Tesch (Treasurer)
Ann White

Fitchburg Historical Society Presidents